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Ferguson Jenkins
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Ferguson Jenkins's Message to the Fans
BiographyFerguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins CM (born December 13, 1943[1] in Chatham, Ontario, Canada[2]) is a right-handed former pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was a three-time All-Star, winner of the 1971 Cy Young Award, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. Jenkins spent most of his career playing for the Chicago Cubs, but also played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, and Boston Red Sox.
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Pitcher
Born: December 13, 1943 (1943-12-13) (age 64) Chatham, Ontario Batted: Right Threw: Right MLB debut September 10, 1965 for the Philadelphia Phillies Final game September 26, 1983 for the Chicago Cubs Career statistics Win-Loss record 284-226 Earned run average 3.34 Strikeouts 3,192 Teams Philadelphia Phillies (1965-1966) Chicago Cubs (1966-1973, 1982-1983) Texas Rangers (1974-1975, 1978-1981) Boston Red Sox (1976-1977)
Career highlights and awards 3x All-Star selection (1967, 1971, 1972) 1971 NL Cy Young Award 1971 NL TSN Pitcher of the Year 1974 AL Comeback Player of the Year
Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Elected 1991 Vote 75.4%
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Career
Early yearsEarly in the history of professional baseball in Nicaragua, Jenkins pitched for the baseball team in León, becoming the most prominent pitcher to have started his pitching career there. Later, in 1963, he was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies and signed by Tony Lucadello. Jenkins made his major-league debut as a 21-year old in 1965 as a relief pitcher. He was traded the following year to the Chicago Cubs, along with Adolpho Phillips and John Herrnstein, for pitchers Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl. Jenkins would become one of the best pitchers in the majors. In his first full year as a starter for the Cubs (1967), Jenkins recorded twenty wins while posting a 2.80 ERA and 236 strikeouts. He finished tied for second in the Cy Young Award voting, following Mike McCormick of the San Francisco Giants. He was also selected for the All-Star Game for the first time that season. The following year his numbers improved; once again he won twenty games, but his ERA dropped to 2.63 and strikeout total increased to 260. In 1968 Jenkins lost five 1~0 games.
1971 seasonJenkins had his best season in 1971, playing in the All-Star Game, finishing seventh in MVP voting and winning the National League Cy Young Award, despite the fact that New York Mets pitcher Tom Seaver had a higher winning percentage, fewer losses, fewer hits allowed per nine innings, more strikeouts, more strikeouts per nine innings, more shutouts, and a lower earned run average than did Jenkins; it is generally conceded Jenkin's accolades for 1971, which was, arguably, Seaver's best season, were due in recognition of his pitching performance having been overlooked the previous four seasons, in each of which Jenkins won 20 games or more, and struck out more than 200 batters, averaged 305 innings pitched, threw 87 complete games and 16 shutouts.
Jenkins was the first Cubs pitcher and the first Canadian ever to win the Cy Young, and he received 17 of 24 first place votes. Jenkins also posted a .478 slugging percentage, hitting six home runs and batting in twenty runs in just 115 at-bats.
In the 1971 season, Jenkins started the opening-day game. The Cubs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 in 10 innings at Wrigley Field. Jenkins pitched the whole game for the Cubs, and Billy Williams hit a home run in the final inning for the victory. On September 1, Jenkins threw another complete game against the Montreal Expos, and had two home runs. The Cubs won the game 5-2.
That season, Jenkins completed 30 of 39 starts, and received a decision in 37 of them, finishing with a 24-13 record (.649). He walked only 37 batters versus 263 strikeouts across 325 innings.
StatisticsJenkins led the league in wins twice, fewest walks per 9 innings five times, complete games nine times, and home runs allowed seven times. His streak of six straight seasons with 20 or more wins (1967-1972) is the longest streak in the major leagues since Warren Spahn performed the feat between 1956 and 1961.
Jenkins, fellow Cub Greg Maddux (with whom he shared the jersey number 31), Curt Schilling, and Pedro Martínez are the only major league pitchers to ever record more than 3,000 strikeouts with fewer than 1,000 walks. Only Robin Roberts allowed more home runs over a career. Jenkins achieved his 3000th strikeout on 1982-05-25 against Garry Templeton.
In 1974 Jenkins, then with the Texas Rangers (who had acquired him from the Cubs the previous off-season for two players, one of whom was future four-time batting champion Bill Madlock), became the first baseball player to win the Lou Marsh Trophy, an award given annually to Canada's top athlete (he won a career-high, and still a Rangers franchise record, 25 games). He was also named the Canadian Press male athlete of the year four times between 1967 and 1974.
ControversyIn late 1980, during a customs search in Toronto, Ontario, Jenkins was found possessing 3.0 grams cocaine, 2.2 grams hashish, and 1.75 grams marijuana. In response, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspended him indefinitely. Jenkins missed the rest of the 1980 season, but in an unprecedented action, an independent arbiter reinstated him and he returned to the game, playing until his retirement following the 1983 season. It has been suggested that this incident delayed his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.[3]
HonorsFerguson Jenkins was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987, and in 1991 became the first Canadian ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. He was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2004. He was appointed the commissioner of the now-defunct Canadian Baseball League in 2003. Jenkins has been inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. On December 17, 1979, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada for being "Canada's best-known major-league baseball player".[4] Governor General Michaëlle Jean officiated at his investiture into the Order, which finally occurred on May 4, 2007: over 27years after he was appointed.[5]
Notable AccomplishmentsHis 250 win was against the Oakland Athletics on May 23, 1980. The anchor of the 13 Black Aces, a group of African American pitchers with at least twenty wins in one season (although Jenkins is actually not African American, but rather a Black Canadian). An outstanding all-around athlete, Fergie played basketball as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters. After Jenkins retired from Major League Baseball in 1983, he pitched for two seasons for the London Majors of the Intercounty Major Baseball League operating in southern Ontario, Canada. Jenkins' career is explained (by Tap drummer Mick Shrimpton) in the extra scenes for the movie This Is Spinal Tap, where a caller to a radio station asks how many shutouts Jenkins acquired during his career.
References and notes1. ^ 1943 is the year given throughout his career, and is the year shown in his Baseball Hall of Fame article. Some sources, such as Baseball-reference.com, claim a 1942 birthdate for Jenkins. 2. ^ The Fergie Jenkins Foundation Inc 3. ^ Able, Allen (1991-07-15/2006-08-26). Fergie Jenkins, 1st Cdn. in Baseball Hall of Fame (HTML/Video). The Journal. Archives, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved on 2007-05-04. 4. ^ Honours Order of Canada Ferguson Jenkins, C.M. (HTML). Members of the Order of Canada. Governor General of Canada (2006-03-30). Retrieved on 2007-05-04. 5. ^ Jenkins gets Order of Canada (HTML). The Toronto Star (2007-05-04). Retrieved on 2007-05-04.
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Source: Wikipedia.org at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson_Jenkins
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